Rod line stroke control unit



Aug. 26, 1952 J. w. RITTER ,60

ROD LINE STROKE CONTROL UNIT 4 Filed Feb. 19, 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Fig.

76 l John William Hitter INVENTOR.

. BY Mm mlflw H M156:

Aug. 26, 1952 J. w. RITTER 2,608,106

ROD LINE STROKE CONTROL UNIT Filed Feb. 19, 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Fig. 4

John William Hit/er IN VEN TOR.

Patented Aug. 26,1952

ROD LINE STROKE CONTROL UNIT John William Bitter, Escobas', Tex., assignor of forty-nine per cent to J. T. Bond, Escobas, Tex.

Application February 19, 1951, Serial No. 211,701

2 Claims This invention relates generally to novel and useful improvements in machines for controlling relative reciprocal movement of a driving and a driven member, and pertains particularly to a construction especially well adapted to control the stroke of individual well pumps in a multiwell pumping installation.

The primary object of the present invention is to enable awell pumper to vary the stroke of a well pump for optimum results irrespective of the stroke of the rod line by means of which power is delivered to the well pump.

Another important object of the present invention'is to provide a machine of this character which may be readily interposed in any desired position in a rod line.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a machine of this character which may be used as an individual unit, or two or more of the same may be employed in series to multiply the individual effects thereof.

Still another important object of this invention is to provide a machine of this character, which may be formed almost entirely of common forms of structural materials at a very low initial cost, and which will be durable and very efiicient in operation for the purposes desired.

A meritorious feature of the present invention resides in the simple, yet rugged frame and the means by which the same may be readily and securely anchored.

Another important feature of the present invention resides in the compactness of the machine and the simplicity of the mechanical movements involved, so that maintenance cost will be very low and the possibilities of a breakdown almost non-existent. A final important feature of the present invention resides in the structure for adjusting the stroke, and the ease by which such adjustment may be accomplished by even an inexperienced workman.

These, together with various ancillary objects and features of the invention which will become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a. preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated by way of example only in the accompanying drawings, wherein; Figure 1 is a side elevationalview of the present invention, certain concealed portions of the same being shown in dotted outline as well as an alternate position of the connecting member;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the invention taken upon the plane of the broken section line 2 22 of Figure l, certain concealed portions of the same being shown in dotted outline;

Figure 3 is an end view of the invention;

Figure 4 is a. fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the invention, illustrating particularly the relative movement of the lever; and

Figure 5 is a detail horizontal sectional view taken upon the plane of the section line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Reference is now made more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, and in which the stroke control unit is designated generally at Ill.

The unit 10 comprises a pair of spaced tubular bottom members [2, which carry at their opposite ends upstanding tubular frame members Hi. The upper ends of the tubular frame members 14 are connected by spaced parallel, tubular frame members [6, the connections between the frame members I4 and the frame members I2 and I6 being secured as by Welding or the like I8. The frame construction is reinforced by the opposite ends of the frame members l6 being connected by tubular members 20, and by one of the frame members 16 being connected to one of the frame members I2 by a diagonal tubular frame member 22. As previously stated, each of the members 12-22 is preferably tubular, and inasmuch as these members are preferably commercially stocked grades of iron or steel, the connections therebetween may all be by welding.

Bolts 24 and 26 are secured to and extend through suitably aligned apertures in the frame members I6 and I2, respectively. Sleeves 28 and 30 are journaled on the portions of the bolts 24 and 26 extending between the frame members, respectively, and suitably attached to intermediate portions of the sleeves are levers 32 and 34. It will be noted upon inspection of Figure 1 that the levers 32 and 34 are oppositely extending, so as to extend generally toward each other in paced parallel overlapping relation. The overlapping portions of the levers 32 and 34 have secured to their adjacent sides elongated plates or bars 36 and 38, respectively.

As best shown in Figures 1 and 2, the plate 36 is provided with spaced openings 40, while the plate 38 is provided with spaced openings 42. An elongated coupling or connecting member 44 is provided having enlarged bifurcated portions 46 and '46 at its opposite ends. The enlarged bifurcated portion 46 has aligned openings, not shown, provided through the furcations thereof, which openings may be placed in alignment with any one of the openings 40 in the plate 36, and a pivot bolt 50 extended therethrough so as to establish a pivotal connection between the coupling member 44 at any one of selected positions spaced longitudinally alon the lever 32. In a similar manner, the enlarged bifurcated portion 48 is pivotally coupled to any one of selected positions spaced longitudinally along the lever 34 by means of a pivot bolt 52 that may be extended through any one of the openings 42. It will thus be seen that the connecting member 44 may be connected between any selected pair of the openings 40 and 42, so that the same may be moved from the position shown in full lines in Figure l, for example, to the position shown, of the same in dotted outline in Figure l and designated at 54.

Oppositely extending rod lines 56 and 58 are secured to the levers 32 and 34, respectively, by

means of pivotal coupling members 60. Since the coupling members 60 are identical in construction, only that one connecting the rod line 58 to the lever 34 will be described in detail. The coupling member 60 is yoke-shaped so as to slidingly embrace the lever 34, and has its free ends pivotally engaging pivot lugs secured to the lever .34 at the side thereof remote from the rod line 58. The end of the member 60 remote from the lugs 62 is bifurcated, and a pivot bolt 64 extends r h aligned apertures, not shown, in the furcations and the end of the rod line 58 received between the furcations to pivotally connect the rod line 58 to the member 60, as designated generally at 66.

While any suitable means may be employed to mount the unit In (it being noted that the same may 'be disposed in the upright position shown in Figure 1 or, if desired, may be laid down on its side), in the preferred construction the same is disposed in the upright position shown in Figure 1 and is anchored by means of a concrete anchor block 68 embedded in the soil [0, with angulated anchor bolts 12 being embedded in the block 68 and extending through suitable apertures in the frame members I2 to be secured by nuts 14 threaded upon the free ends of the bolts '12.

The use of the present invention will be readily appreciated. Upon comparing Figures 1 and 4, in which the full line positions of the connecting member 44 correspond, it will be seen that in moving the lever 32 through the angle designated at 16 from the position shown in Figure l to the position shown in Figure 4, the movement of the lever 32 will be transmitted through the connecting member 44 to produce the relatively smaller angular movement 18 in the lever 34. It will thus be seen that for the position of the connecting member 44 shown in Figure 4 a large angularmovement of the lever 32 will be accompanied by a much smaller angular movement of the lever 34. When the relative angular movements of the levers is considered in conjunction with the obvious mechanical advantage of each of the levers, that is, the advantage of the rod line 56 causing movement of the connecting member 44, and the advantage of the connecting member 44 causing movement of the rod line 58, it will be apparent that, compared to a given movement of the rod line 56, the movement of the rod line 58 will be very small indeed. However, it will be equally apparent that upon moving the connecting member 44 to connect the openings progressivelynearer the rod line 56 and the rod line 58, such movement will cause the relative movements of the rod lines to become much nearer each other in magnitude and, in fact, it will be seen that if the connecting member 44 were disposed to connect the rod lines 56 and 58 directly, the movement of the rod lines would be identical. It will also be apparent that if the plates 36 and 33 extended below the, members 60 and if the connecting member 44 were connected to the plates 36 and 38 below the members 60 that for a given movement of the rod line 56, the rod line 58 would move a greater distance.

Since, from the foregoing, the construction and advantages of this invention are readily apparent, further description is believed to be unnecessary. It will, of course, be understood by those skilled in the art that in the use of the disclosed machine the rod line 53 will be connected to the power source and the rod line 58 connected to the pump, when a reduction in stroke is desired, and that such connections would be reversed to increase the stroke. As stated in the objects, a plurality of machines such as the one illustrated in the drawings may be connected in series which would produce a net result equal to the product of the separate effects of the individual machines.

Since numerous modifications and equivalents will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not intended to limit the invention to the exact embodiment shown and described, but all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what. is claimed as new is:

l. A rod line stroke control comprising a vertical frame having a top and bottom, a first lever pivoted to the top of said frame in suspended position, a second lever pivoted, to the bottom of said frame in upstanding position and spaced from the first lever coplanar therewith, an operating rod for the first lever pivoted to the lower end thereof, a motion-transmitting rod pivoted to the second lever intermediate the ends of the latter, and means to variably connect said levers at selected distances from the pivots thereof and above the pivots of said rods.

2. A rod line stroke control according to claim. 1 wherein said means comprises a plate extending along the first lever'above the operating rod with vertically spaced aperturestherein, a second plate extending along the second lever above the motion-transmitting rod and with vertical apertures therein, and a coupling connection between said plates having end pins selectively positionable in the apertures of said plates.

JOHN WILLIAM RI'I'IER.

REFERENCE S CITED The following references, are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 123,623 Edwards Feb. 13, 1872' 737,541 Williams Aug. 25, 1903 1,993,236 Barney Mar. 5, 1935 2,268,945 Kelley Jan. 6, 19.42

2,524,241 Vetter Oct. 3, 1950 

